by Sherri Sylvester | Mar 4, 2016
You know that little sticker on the end of your thread spool, the one with the colour number on it? It’s great, until you try to place it on your machine. The sticker comes off and gets lost, breaks unevenly or sticks to the spool pin making it hard for the spool to turn evenly. It’s easy to fix all that with this little trick from Granny! (Find out how this series started.)
Within all Thread Riding Hood patterns and downloadable pdf’s, I’ve included “Notes and Tips from Granny’s Sewing Basket”. Granny capitalizes on the story of Little Red Riding Hood and takes creative license in proposing that Granny loves to sew! Throughout the patterns, these Notes and Tips are included to make your sewing go more smoothly. This series includes tips I’ve found helpful in my personal sewing. Find them pinned here: “Sewing Tips & Tricks” Pinterest board.
I don’t like losing the stickers from the ends of my thread. Then the colour number goes missing and it’s more complicated to buy more or match spools.
To keep the stickers in tact and attached: place a new spool over the spool pin backwards or “sticker first”. Wiggle it around to get the sticker to stay on tightly. It also helps to even out the opening in the spool since part of the sticker is now stuck inside. Once you’ve done this it is easy to put the spool back on correctly. Make sure it spins properly! Replace the spool holder, thread the machine and go!
While you are getting your thread ready, maybe you’ve forgotten how to thread your machine? Head over to my latest (aptly named) Craftsy post, “How to Re-thread Your Sewing Machine in 4 Steps” and get that sorted out too!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ve got projects upon projects to work on and photograph for the start of a special 6-part Janome series coming next week! Head over to Instagram or Facebook if you’d like some sneak peeks ahead of time.
What are you working on this weekend?
by Sherri Sylvester | Apr 9, 2015
Have you ever fed elastic or ribbon through a casing, then run into trouble when you tried to pass the seam allowance? I know it’s “easy” to baste the seam allowance down or adhere them with fusible tape – but it’s even easier with this little trick from Granny! (Find out how this series started.)
Within all Thread Riding Hood patterns and downloadable pdf’s, I’ve included “Notes and Tips from Granny’s Sewing Basket”. Granny capitalizes on the story of Little Red Riding Hood and takes creative license in proposing that Granny loves to sew! Throughout the patterns, these Notes and Tips are included to make your sewing go more smoothly. This series includes tips I’ve found helpful in my personal sewing. Find them pinned here: “Sewing Tips & Tricks” Pinterest board.
When sewing pajama shorts I am always looking for “faster and easier” ways to make them. They get used a lot and the quicker they are to make the more likely it is that I will make more in the future! My elastic generally gets stuck in the seam allowance while I feed it through because I’m too lazy speedy to bother basting or fusing them down. It’s irritating and then I get to fiddle with it until I find the correct place to feed it through.
This time I used my school glue stick to temporarily glue down the allowances before stitching the casing. It holds them down just long enough to get the elastic through. Once the shorts go through the wash the glue will come out – but that’s after I’m finished! Perfect!
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CONGRATULATIONS to the winner of the Kaffe Fassett Charm Pack from Fabric Spark! Jo from the UK was the lucky winner as chosen by the random Rafflecopter widget. She was so pleased because she had already pinned the Charm Pack tutorial for my Spring Charming Throw Pillow – Hooray! Maybe she’ll make one?!
Would you like your own charm pack? Get one from Fabric Spark – Kaffe Fassett Woven Cotton Charm Pack in Light
Hope you’re having a great week! I’m off to the library with my little monkeys – getting some reading for the weekend. See you again soon!
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 21, 2014
I’ve decided to start a new series that has been in the back of my head for a while. Every so often I am sewing or reading a blog and find a way to make my sewing simpler, easier or faster. I’ve always thought I should write them down, and what better way to do it than to have Granny share them with you.
Within all of the patterns and downloadable pdf’s I design, (+ more coming this week!) I’ve included a “Notes and Tips from Granny’s Sewing Basket”. Granny capitalizes on the story of Little Red Riding and takes a little creative license in proposing that Granny loves to sew! Throughout the patterns, these Notes and Tips are included to make your sewing go more smoothly. I thought it would be fun to continue the series here, and share these ideas as they come up in my personal sewing.
These tips are all graphics, so they can be pinned and are easy to keep around. I’ve also pinned them to my “Sewing Tips & Tricks” Pinterest board if you find it easier to follow them around that way instead.
A while ago I was sewing ribbon on the edge of a couple of pillowcases I made for my girls. I don’t use a lot of ribbon, but I’ve always found it tricky to get a perfect edge when sewing it on. This time though, I discovered that lining the ribbon up with the inside edge of the presser foot kept my seam straight and perfectly even. The trick is to find a presser foot in your supplies that allows the left edge to rest on top of your ribbon and the right edge of the presser foot to rest on your lower fabric. The depth of the presser foot rests beside the ribbon edge and they keep each other in line!
I have had quite a few projects this past week that it is a relief to get another post up for you all! I’ve been working on a few (brand new) patterns that will be available at the Creativ Festival in Toronto happening this weekend! I’m so excited and I get to share them with you later this week. Hooray! The Quiet Book post is coming up for this week as well, so we’ve got a great few days ahead. See you soon!
Reader Feedback: Do you use a lot of ribbon in your sewing?
